The latest crumb of evidence: Morgan Stanley's John Lam held some
calls/visits with Chinese cement makers, and liked what he heard.

All cement producers we met have registered strong sales volumes
since August across different regions in China: The reasons: 1)
Better weather 2) Infrastructure demand 3) Strong rural demand
Property demand remains the same. This is in line with the macro
data points, such as accelerating cement production growth in
September and infrastructure spending. We believe the strong
infrastructure spending reflects: 1) Better liquidity in China,
reflecting a rising proportion of medium- to long-term loans 2)
Better funding for local governments thanks to the recent pickup
in land sales.

It's not all amazing news. He goes onto note that some of the
rural demand for cement is the result of migrant workers giving
up on the city, going back to the village, and building homes.